…loves you more every day.

Obamacare is rolling out, and the greedy are pissed so they’re stabbing us in the government. In the meantime, musicians and artists of all types need routine dental and medical care. The O+ Festival in upstate New Yorks’ Hudson Valley is providing music, art, and medical care this weekend at their 4th annual cultural and community event in Kingston. Street Artist Gaia took on a big wall to help promote the event and today we bring you exclusive shots of his new Artemis, the Greek goddess of the hunt and of fertility.

“The O+ Festival is a great energy exchange where dentists, massage therapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists, optometrists, energy healers and other wellness providers donate their skills and knowledge to artists and musicians who, in exchange, contribute their creative skills to the local area with performances, exhibits, public art installations and other means,” says the promotional text that describes the grassroots festival that will also be mounted for three November days in San Francisco.

Of his experience here Gaia says he can attest to the sincerity, dedication, and professionalism of the organizers and medical care providers there – calling them “wonderful, wonderful people”. If you are looking for a place to put your energy to build community and make a difference as an artist – and get some help in return – this is a fine example of people putting their money where their mouths are.

Health care services are still entirely out of reach and unaffordable for a startling number of Americans right now and the ethic of the festival embraces a barter approach. They estimate that last years headlining musician alone received $700 worth of dental care “free” for his performance. These are the kind of creative solutions that bridge the gap in caring for one another these days as wolves are attempting to savage the body politic.

“Artemis is a powerful female figure,” says Gaia, “and I thought it would be evocative to have a marble statue personifying such power, emerging from an exhausted quarry, a hole within Mother Earth,” he explains of the central figure he created over the course of a week in Kingston. “Given that marble, bluestone, cement and other elements mined from the Earth have defined so much of upstate New York’s early economy and history, I thought it would be pertinent to have a statue made of that material emerging from the past – a past that helped build New York City and this nation through the exploitation of a resource rich valley.”

Special thanks to photographer Andy Milford for sharing his considerable talent here with the BSA readers.